Vehicle-alarm.



A. H. M'ARHENKB VEHICLE ALARM.

APPLICATION FILED DEGAZG, 1913.

Patented 52111.5,1915.

[MENTOR EM ke/ake *6, A TTOR/VE rs @mri AUGUST HEINRICH MARHENKE, OF NEWYORK, N. Y.

VEHICLE-ALARM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

Applieawen filed December 26, 1913. Serial No, 808,809.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Anens'r H. MARHENKE, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of New York, borough of the Bronx, in thecounty of the Bronx and State of- New York, have invented a new andImproved Vehicle-Alarm, of which the following is a full, clear, andexactdescription.

'This invention relates to vehicles and has particular reference tosafety appliances serving to prevent the loss of vehicles by thieves orother malicious persons.

More definitely stated the invention comprises a form of brake mechanismwhich is adapted to be set in locking position'wihen the driver of thevehicle leaves the same standing on the street, suclz ineansbeing underhe control. of the driver by the use of a keg. to enable hi to piacc thevehicle in running condition after hercturns, and means furthermoreoeing provided Whereby, if the vehicle should be moved ey a stranger anaudible alarin will he soifnded whereby an indication will be given tothe public or to the law otlicers that the vehicle is being tamperedwith :ithout authority.

The foregoing and other objects of; the invention Will'hereinatter hemore fully described and claimed and illustrated in the drawings forminga part of this specifica tion in which like characters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all tlie views, and in which- Figure 1 aside elevation of an automobile, partly in section, equipped With thisimprovement; Fi 2 is a fragmentary plan view oi the chassis ol the same;Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section substantially on the line 2i-3of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line *l-----'l ol Fig. 3;Fig. 5 is a horizmntal $F'fi'll0ll on the line 5--5 ol Fig. 4; and Fig.('1 is a detail. descrihed be low.

The several parts of the device may he made of any suitable materials,and the relative sizes and proportions, as Well/as the general design ofthe mechanism, may be varied to a. considerable extent withoutdepartingfrom the spirit of the invention hereinafter inore-i'ull v set forth andspecitieally claimed.

Referring now to the drawings more specifi ally, l show at ii) anautomobile which may be regarded as an example of any carriage or Wagonof any known type with which my device is adapted to be employed. Thisvehicle is shown comprising a hand brake 11 associated with each of therear Wheels, the lever mechanism ot' the brak being operated-from asingle rock shaft 12 journaled transverselyin the frame 13 andAssociated in any convenient manner with one of the'movalole parts ofthe brake mechanisin such, for instance, as the lever-15, is

a bar 18 slidablc along keepers l9 and having a series of teeth 20thereon. A plunger 21 operates in keepers 22 preferably at right anglesto the axis of the bar '18 and is adapted, when forced against thetension of a spring 23, to engage one of the teeth of the bar so as toprevent its movement to the open position of the brake. Said plunger 21at its end or any other point remote from the end en aging the teeth 20is connected to a bell crankQlpivoted at a fixed point 25 preferablybeneath the drivers seat and adapted to operat in va vertical plane. The

upper arm ol the hell crank or the arm opposite that one to which thehell crank is connected is loosely connected to a plunger 26 guided forreciprocationvertically in keepers 2'11 'Said plunger 26 is providedwith teeth 26 with which a key controlled locking bolt 28 cooper-airs. v/hen the driver Wishes to leave the vehicle standing on the street hemay set the brake by his foot in the usual manner, and then, bydepressing the plunger 26 through a finger piece 29, he will ause thehall crank to he moved around its pivot far enough for the plunger 21 tointerlork with one of the teeth 20 oil the brake bar 18. The bolt 28will automatically cooperate with the teeth 26' to lock the plunger 26in the position into which the driver depresses it and thereby theplunger 21 will be locked in engagement with the hart; against thetension of the comparatively stitl' spring 23. On the The plunger 36 isso ranged as to hear downwardly a spring 32 secured at one end to theframe at 33 in a fixed position. At 3% I show an audible alarm device,for instance, in the ,form of a bell which .will be of a peculiar 5character either with respect to the quality of tone or size and whichwill be recognized by the public or the policemen on the street that thevehicle is being O)6l1il0d without authority. I provide adjacent thebell pecu- 1'0 liar mechanism comprising one or more hammers eachmounted on a fiexible'arm 36. The ends opposite the hammers are securedin a definite fixed position close together at 37 at the lower end of afixed post 38 constituting a means for securing the bell 3 k inposition.v The lower end of said post 38 is oll'set, as shown in Fig. 4,at the point where the arms 36 are secured. When the arms 36 are setfree, the hammers carried thereby occupy positions close to theperimeter of the bell 3-1, and the motion of the vehicle at such a timewill cause sulficient vibration for one or-both of said ham mers tostrike the bell. Any suitable means maybe provided to secure the hammersfrom operating when the vehicle is being driven by the proper person.For this purpose I show a pair of levers 39 of the first class pivotedon the same pivot adjacent the point of connec tion 37 above described.Each of said levers has a finger 39 adapted to bear against one of saidflexible arms 36. W hen the ends of the levers opposite said fingers aredrawn 35 toward each other, said fingers 39 will likewise be drawntoward each other, causing the hammers 35 to be so closely drawn'together as to remove them from the position.

' having its opposite end connected to the above described spring 32.The normal tendency of the spring 32 is to automatically draw upon thechain 42 to cause the hammers to be drawn into inoperative position andagainst-the tendency of a lighter spring 4st to keep the hammersseparated or closer,

to the rim of the bell. It will thus be seen that when the plunger 26 isdepressed into locking position, as above described,. the spring 32 willbe forced downwardly, relieving the normal tension upon the chain l2-and thus allowing the spring 44: to set the hammers free for theirintended operation. If, therefore, should the vehicle be started whilethe devices are thus set, the bell will be sounded. If the mechanismabove described, for instance, were connected to a horse-drawn vehicle,it might be posr sible, under certain conditions, for the vehicle to bestarted even if the brakes were set and locked, but the sounding of thehell would indicate immediately that something was wrong and theoffender could hardly make his escape with the vehicle under suchconditions. 7a The guide 13 extends from a casing 45 which substantiallyincloses the bell so as to .prevent any one from tampering with the bellmechanism, but provided with a sut cient number and size of openings -15for -the sound to pass through.

In the case of automobiles hav iirg elcc-- trical sparking devices fortheir motors, I may provide, in connection with the bell crank 2i, anautomatic cutoff for the electrio circuit between the magneto orbatteryand the engine cylinders, said circuit being indicated in Fig. 6 bywires a6. Said wires are shown connected to switch blades 47 and 48, theone being secured in fixed position and the other carried by an arm'Q-lof the bell crank. It will be plain that when the bell crank 24: ismoved, as above described, to cause the locking of the brake bar 18, theswitch blade 48 will be thrown to the position indicated in dotted linesin Fig. 6, thereby making it impossible for the ignition mechanism toperform its intended functions.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent l. The herein described vehicle including brakemechanism, locking devices therefor, said locking devices includingaplunger, an audible alarm mechanism including a bell, a hammer for thebell, means to hold the hammer from striking the bell under normaloperating conditions, and devices between said plunger and said hammerholding means whereby, when the brake mechanism is set, the hammer willbe free to vibrate, but when the brake is released the hammer will beheld from action. 7

2. The combination with a vehicle hav ing brake mechanism including adepressible plunger, of audible alarm devices including a bell, a hammeradjacent the bell,

lever mechanism adjacent the hammer, a

spring 4% acting upon the lever mechanism tending to allow the hammer toring the bell when the vehicle is in motion, and means acting normallyupon the lever mechanism and against the forceof said spring to hold thehammer out of operation, said means acting upon the levermechanism'being actuated by the plunger when depressed to allow freemovement of the hammer through said spring when the brake mechanism isset.

3. In safety devices for vehicles, the combination of a bell crankpivoted at a fixed point, a plunger connected to one arm of the bellcrank and serving to move it around its pivot, meanss'controlled by saidhell crank movement to preveaa the movement of the vehicle, audiblealarm mechanism normally held out of operation when the vehicle isdriven with safety, and connections between saidplnnger and said alarmmeohanism whereby the alarm mechanism is set free for operation when theplunger is depressed and "the hell crank moved as first described.

4. In safety devices for Y9l'1lClS,. the combination of a member movable"by hand,

means associated with said member to pre vent the unauthorized movementof the Vehicle when said member is moved in one di rection, audiblealarm mechanism, a spring arm acted upon by i said member when moved asabove described, and connections between said springarm and said alarmmechanism whereby the latter free so operate when the said member ismoved as first described, against distension of said springarm, the armtending to hold the alarm mechanism out of operation.

5. The herein described audible alarm mechanism for vehicles, the sameincluding a bell, stationary post Within the hell as a means forsecuring the bell in pair of hammers mounted on i arms COHBGCEQQ to theopposite end lever mechanism pivoted on g" to cooperate Wish said hehammers out of position flexible conne and said lever arms a so stril'ethe hel reetion between mechanism iel'lfililg out me-chair of strikingposition, and eperased a ser A to control t. usual run ning of thevehicle and coaching with said spring so as'to .setiree said ham .rerswhen the vehicle is not to be run.

in testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

All :PJST HElllRlUH MARHENKEE v ii-nesses:

Geo. L. Berries, PHILIP D. EoLLHAUs.

to hold the hammers

